Yiddish

noun

Yid·​dish ˈyi-dish 

: a High German language written in Hebrew characters that is spoken by Jews and descendants of Jews of central and eastern European origin

Yiddish adjective

Examples of Yiddish in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The Jewish faith is predominant throughout the musical — references to certain prayers are made, Yiddish phrases are baked into the dialogue, and many Jewish traditions are brought to life on stage. —Carolina Del Busto, Miami Herald, 11 Mar. 2025

To do that, Knopf needed the original pages in Yiddish, with Grade’s changes and corrections. —Joseph Berger, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2025

In the food court, knots of women are chatting in Yiddish, one of them celebrating a grandmother’s birthday. —Talia Lavin, Curbed, 7 Nov. 2024

The insular community’s yeshivas, which rely heavily on taxpayer dollars, teach religious lessons in Yiddish and Hebrew for most of the school day, and offer little instruction in English or math. —Eliza Shapiro, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Yiddish yidish, short for yidish daytsh, literally, Jewish German, from Middle High German jüdisch diutsch, from jüdisch Jewish (from Jude Jew) + diutsch German

First Known Use

1871, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

Yiddish

noun

Yid·​dish ˈyid-ish 

: a language that began among the Jews of eastern Europe and is based on German and written in the Hebrew alphabet

Yiddish adjective

Etymology

from Yiddish yidish, a shortened form of yidish daytsh, literally "Jewish German (language)," derived from early German jüdisch "Jewish" and diutsch "the German language"